The Voynich Manuscript has been one of those mysteries in the literary world that continues to fascinate and frustrate. The manuscript is known for its indecipherable script, which has stumped scholars and code-breakers over the years since its discovery in 1912 by Polish book dealer Wilfrid Voynich. It features numerous illustrations on subjects like astrology, alchemy and botany, all written in looping handwriting and unbreakable code, with little reference to any other language.
However, scholar Stephen Skinner believes the identity of the author of the mysterious manuscript might have been found. Skinner claims that visual clues in each section of the manuscript point to a Jewish physician based in northern Italy. Once this is confirmed by other scholars, he believes it could possibly help unlock the secrets behind the manuscript.
Why a Jewish physician and why Italy? According to the scholar, the former can be derived from one key illustration: the one that depicts naked women bathing in green pools, filled by winding pipes. Skinner says that these are representations of Jewish baths known as mikvah.
Further, the book does not contain Christian symbolism, which was enforced by the Inquisition at the time of its writing (1404-1438). As for the distinctly Mediterranean flavour, the key is once more in the illustrations—a sketch of a castle with a “swallow-tail” on one page. It refers to the Ghibelline fortification that was only present in castles of Northern Italy.
Perhaps we are one step closer to reading something shrouded in secrecy. Perhaps this is only a false alarm and there’s no way for us to find out after all. In the end, however, the only thing left to do is wait, hold our breath, and hope it’ll be cracked before we pass out from lack of oxygen.
—Illustrated on calf-skin vellum pages
—Written in an unknown language, using Latin script
—Research suggests that originally, its cover was one of wood with a tanned leather inner cover, but is presently bound and covered in goatskin
—Inks used include minerals such as azurite (blue), atacamite (green) and hematite (red), drawn using a quill pen
